He's Coming Back!

Gabe, the granddog

"Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise Him again - my Savior and my God.! (Psalm 43:5)

My Phillip and I just finished reading aloud the Newberry Honor children's novel, Because of Winn-Dixie, by Kate DiCamillo about 10-year-old India Opal Bologna, her dad, The Preacher, and a scruffy stray dog that Opal rescues at a Winn Dixie supermarket. (Great read, by the way.) 

At the point in the book when Winn-Dixie disappears and Opal and The Preacher can't find him, I choked out the words through tears. Crying and laughing at the same time, I told Phillip, "Why am I crying? (Spoil alert!!!) I know he comes back!"

Why are you discouraged, beloved? Why is your heart so sad? Jesus is coming back!

So when the apostles were with Jesus, they kept asking Him, "Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?"

[Jesus] replied, "The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be My witnesses..."

After saying this, He was taken up into a cloud while they were watching, and they could no longer see Him. As they strained to see Him rising into heaven, two white-robed men suddenly stood among them. "Men of Galilee," they said, "why are you standing here staring into heaven? Jesus has been taken from you into heaven but someday He will return from heaven in the same way you saw Him go!" (Acts 1:6-11)

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A Friend Who Sticks

My daddy (L) and a huntin' buddy, 1980s

"There are 'friends' who destroy each other, but a real friend sticks closer than a brother." (Proverbs 18:24)

A 1960-something conversation between my daddy and a Radio Shack clerk in Florence, Alabama is forever imprinted on my mind and heart. When the clerk learned we lived in Fort Payne, he started bad-mouthing a businessman from our hometown. 

My daddy raised his hand. "Before you say another word," he said, "I just want you to know that you're talking about my neighbor and my friend." 

That day, I learned the meaning of true-blue friend.

Are you a truehearted friend, beloved?

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Seedtime and Harvest

strawberry plants at the farm
(photo snapped yesterday)

"Those who plant in tears will harvest with shouts of joy. They weep as they go to plant their seed, but they sing as they return with the harvest." (Psalm 126:5-6)

Lots and lots of tilling and weeding and planting and mulching and fertilizing and weeding and watering and weeding and waiting and weeding and watering and waiting and did I mention weeding and at long last picking precedes eating luscious, sweet, red-ripe strawberries.

And so it is with the Word of God. Christ's simple truths may be sown into a hard heart for years and years and years before the seed penetrates, sprouts, and blossoms to fruition. 

Keep sowing, beloved.

"The things we do today - sowing seeds or sharing simple truths of Christ - people will someday refer to as the first things that prompted them to think of Him." ~ George Matheson

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Best Phone Call Ever

Our Dan, infantry training 2008
Salt Lake City, UT

"For the LORD your God...will take delight in you with gladness. With His love, He will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs." (Zeph. 3:12)

At Marine Corps bootcamp, a recruit's only contact with family and friends is letters. One morning when our son was at Parris Island, our phone rang about 6 a.m.. It was Dan. The drill instructors had rewarded him with a call home because he was aggressive (he knocked out 2 or 3 opponents' mouth guards) and undefeated in the pugil stick fights. Best phone call ever for his overjoyed mama!

You have a heavenly Father, beloved Christian, that delights in you with gladness and rejoices over you with joyful songs. Talk to Him everyday.

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Shake, Rattle, Roll, and Persevere

grands, son-in-law, and 1000 piece puzzle

"And we are confident in the Lord that you are doing and will continue to do the things we commanded you." (2 Thess. 3:4)



By perseverance, the midwest kids and grands recently completed a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle. Good job, guys!

The will to persevere in my storybooks without exception comes from God's instructions. When Jesus whispers a mandate for a book, I know without question that book is His. Confidence soars like a bald eagle, and I'm rekindled to continue doing the things He's commanded me. 

Feeling stuck in a rut with little motivation to put one sluggish foot in front of the other? Beseech the Lord Jesus. Hear and heed His voice that makes Lebanon's mountains skip like a calf. Shake, rattle, roll, and persevere, beloved!

The voice of the LORD echoes above the sea.

The God of glory thunders.

The LORD thunders over the mighty sea.

The voice of the LORD is powerful;

the voice of the LORD is majestic.

The voice of he LORD splits the mighty cedars;

the LORD shatters the cedars of Lebanon.

He makes Lebanon's mountains skip like a calf;

He makes Mount Hermon leap like a young wild ox.

The voice of the LORD strikes with bolts of lighting.

The voice of the LORD makes the barren wilderness quake;

the LORD shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.

The voice of the LORD twists mighty oaks

and strips the forests bare.

In His temple everyone shouts, "Glory!"

The LORD rules over the floodwaters.

The LORD reigns as King forever.

The LORD gives His people strength.

The LORD blesses them with peace.

(Psalm 29)

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Deja Vu

our grands yesterday

"Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom." (Psalm 90:12)

I had a "deja vu" moment today when I opened Instagram and saw the picture above of our grands.

our kids, 1993, just a blink ago

Time flies like a peregrine falcon, beloved. Don't waste a blink of it!

"LORD, through all generations

You have been our home!

Before the mountains were born,

Before you gave birth to the earth and the world,

from the beginning to the end, You are God...

For You, a thousand years are a passing day,

as brief as a few night hours...

Seventy years are given to us!

Some even live to eighty...

Teach us to realize the brevity of life,

so that we will grow in wisdom...

Satisfy us each morning with Your unfailing love,

so we may sing for joy to the end of our lives."

(Psalm 90)

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Crushing Conviction

Wild West Outlaws
(my brother, Mark, and me, 1958)

"Wash away my guilt and cleanse me from my sin. For I am conscious of my rebellion, and my sin is always before me. Against You - You alone - I have sinned and done this evil in Your sight..." (Psalm 51:2-4)

"Is this Jill Glassco?" asked the middle eastern accent.

"Yes, it is," I answered.

"Hi, Jill. This is (can't remember his name), a marketing expert with (won't disclose the company) Publishing and your book Secrets of Sheeloh (Shiloh) has been assigned to me. I think it would make a great Hollywood movie, Jill. And I'm going to get your book, Jill, into the hands of Hollywood producers." 

"Wonderful," I said sarcastically. "And your company is going to pay for this. That's great."

(Immediate Holy-Spirit convicted sin: mean-spirited sarcasm)

"We're prepared to offer you 90 days absolutely free marketing, with only a small monthly fee thereafter."

"I apologize for my sarcasm," I said. "The goal for this book is not a Hollywood movie, but to share Jesus with children and families, and I don't trust your company. Good-bye."

Click.

Crushing conviction: "So you want to share Me through your storybooks yet you weren't ready to share Me with Mr. Expert Marketing Agent who didn't know how to pronounce Shiloh and may not know Me? Where was your focus?"

"On myself," I sadly confessed. "Oh, Lord Jesus, please forgive my sins of mean-spirited sarcasm, self-centeredness, and a missed opportunity.  Thank you for forgiveness not by my merit but by Your shed blood on the cross. Please send Mr. Expert Marketing Agent a strong witness, and please help me be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not, to proclaim the message of Jesus Christ."

Beloved, learn from my mistakes. In your home or in the neighborhood or on the job or in the world or even on a "random" phone call be ready to share Jesus.

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Too Sick

Our boy, Ben, babygrand, and toddlergrand
At the river cabin, 2017

"Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. He peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus." (Phil. 4:6-7)

"Hi, Memaw. I feelin' better. I too sick," toddlergrand announced over the phone.

One-year-old babygrand fell victim first to a violent stomach virus. Like an out-of-control wildfire, dad, Ben, was knocked flat next followed by the two-year-old brother. We're praying without ceasing for speedy recoveries and protection for mom and grandparents visiting from Honduras.

In Numbers chapter sixteen, a plague swept across the Israelite camp striking down the people, but Aaron stood between the living and the dead with a censer full of burning coals. And God stopped the plague. In Mark chapter one, Peter's mother-in-law lay sick in bed with a high fever. Jesus took her by the hand and the fever left instantly. She got up and cooked lunch. 

Nothing is impossible with Almighty God who stopped a wildfire plague among the Israelites and healed Peter's fever-struck mother-in-law. Jesus still heals the "too sick." Pray, beloved!

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Hark, the Herald

My mother and daddy, 1982
(Daddy's Cherokee 180, Bogalusa, Louisiana Airport)

"I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them." (1 Timothy 2:1)

By our eleven-year-old grandboy's recommendation, we're reading Hatchet - a 1987 Newberry award winning novel by Gary Paulsen. In the story, after the pilot dies from a massive heart attack, thirteen-year-old Brian Robeson crash-lands the plane in the Canadian wilderness and must survive alone with nothing but a hatchet. (I keep having this urge to pray for Brian - to tell him he's not alone; God's with him - and have to remind myself that he's fictitious.)

In his letter to Timothy, the Apostle Paul urged the young pastor to intercede on behalf of all people. "This is good," he wrote, "and pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth." The truth that there is one God and only one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity - the man/God Christ Jesus, who gave His life to purchase freedom for everyone (1 Tim. 2:3-6).

And we, beloved, are God's chosen heralds to pray for all people and broadcast the good message of Jesus. The message that God gave the world His Son at just the right time. His Son, Jesus, died in the place of sinful man and rose again. The Kingdom of God is near! Repent of your sins and believe the Good News!

Are you heralding?

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Two Words

A Chancellor Ferry Tale

"Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart...let your words be few." (Ecclesiastes 5:2)



Our friends, Bill and Jeanne, are a lovely senior couple in our church. Due to a debilitating stroke, Jeanne's words are few and far between these days. But like E. F. Hutton, when she speaks everybody listens.

In January, I gave them a copy of my children's book, A Chancellor Ferry Tale. Last Sunday, Jeanne grabbed my hand and with eyes as bright as Christmas lights on a Virginia pine she spoke two words with more impact than a New York Times review: "Good book!"

I confess. I'm guilty of speaking many, many, many words and much, much, much advice. My Phillip, on the other hand, withholds advice until asked for. So who do people prefer to listen to? The man of few words. 

O Lord, set a guard over our mouths; keep watch over the doors of our lips (Psalm 141:3). Make us quick to listen, slow to speak and even slower to anger (James 1:19). For a truly wise person uses few words; a person with understanding is even-tempered (Prov, 17:27). Amen and amen.

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45 Valentine's Days

My love and me
First Baptist Church Sweetheart banquet
Fort Payne, Alabama 1973





"My love is mine and I am his..." 
(Song of Solomon 2:16)

Our first date: May 7, 1971

Our first Valentine's: February 14, 1972

Our first wedding day: September 10, 1977

Our first born: November 5, 1981

Our first grand: September 27, 2005

Our first love: Jesus Christ

(Our second love: each other)

Who's your first love, beloved?

Praise the LORD. 

Blessed are those who fear the LORD, 

               who find great delight in His commands.

Their children will be mighty in the land;

              the generation of the upright are blessed.

(Psalm 112:1-2)

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The Last Word

my boys at the farm:
Ben, toddlergrand, and superman

"This is the message from the One who is the First and the Last..." (Rev. 2:8)





At dusk on another fun Saturday at the farm, Ben asked, "Memaw, have you finished your new book?"

"Yep. Rough draft's completed. I'm just 'polishing' the manuscript," I replied.

"Well, you may not be finished after all. Look what we discovered...

Frankincense found a new friend." 

"Oh, wow! That changes the end of the story entirely. I guess it's back to the keyboard."

Almighty God, the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, has the last word in every story.😀


In a fiery furnace of persecution, the suffering church of Smyrna appeared doomed and done for. 

But Jesus. 

But Jesus, the One who holds pastors in His right hand and walks among His church, the First and the Last with the final word said, "I know about your suffering and poverty. Don't be afraid. Remain faithful even unto death, and I will give you the crown of life!" (Rev. 2:9-10)

Feel doomed and done for, beloved? Listen to Jesus. The Author of your story pens the last word: Victory!

I heard an old, old story

How a Savior came from glory

How He gave His life on Calvary

To save a wretch like me

I heard about His groaning,

Of His precious blood’s atoning

Then I repented of my sin

And won the VICTORY

Oh, VICTORY in Jesus, My Savior forever

He sought me and bought me

With His redeeming blood

He loved me ere I knew Him

And all my love is due Him

He plunged me to VICTORY

Beneath the cleansing flood!

VICTORY IN JESUS. E. M. Barlett. 1939.

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At Home and On the Road

Our kids: Ben, Rebecca, and Dan
May 1993

"Commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these words of Mine...Teach them to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up." (Deut. 11:18-19)

Last night's texting:

Me: "Tell kids we're reading The Tiger Rising." 

Rebecca: "We're reading The Tiger Rising, too! We love it!!"

Me: "It's the coolest thing reading books 'together'."

Rebecca: "What chapter are you on?"

Me: "Chapter 9"

Rebecca: "We're on Chapter 12. I think.

Me: "God is so good. I'm grateful."

In 1993, Phillip and I packed kids and a stack of books into our Ford mini-van and traveled from Arkansa to Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, South Dakota, Missouri, and back to Arkansa (visiting extinct volcanoes, the Rocky Mountains, Yellowstone National Park, Devil's Tower, and Mt. Rushmore) - all in one week! 

Reading Hinds Feet On High Places proved a highlight of the trip. When antagonist Much Afraid encountered a hind and hart, Jesus strategically placed a buck and doe on the roadside for us to see. When fog surrounded Much Afraid, fog swaddled our Rocky Mountain highway. What an awesome God!

The best book we ever read together by far was, is, and forever will be God's book: the Holy Bible.

Got family, beloved? Read God's Holy Word - together!

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And the Trees of the Field Will Clap Their Hands

Our nine-year-old grandgirl

"...I send [My word] out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it." (Isaiah 55:11)

Even before the children's book, Ruth and Frankincense, A Good New Christmas Story, hits the press, God's working His good purposes into the illustrator (our nine-year-old grandgirl), the editor (a new friend), and the author (me).

  

Big Oak Tree House

from Ruth and Frankincense, A Good News Christmas Story

Whatever God tells you to do, beloved, do it! Trust that He's up to something far beyond anything you could imagine to bring great honor to His name and demonstrate His almighty power and love!

"My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts," says the LORD.

"And My ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.

For just as the heavens are higher than the earth,

so are My ways higher than your ways

and My thoughts higher than your thoughts."

"The rain and snow come down from the heavens

and stay on the ground to water the earth.

They cause the grain to grow,

producing seed for the farmer

and bread for the hungry.

It is the same with My word.

I send it out, and it always produces fruit.

It will accomplish all I want it to,

and it will prosper everywhere I send it."

"You will go out with joy and peace.

The mountains and hill will burst into song,

and the trees of the field will clap their hands!"

"Where once there were thorns, cypress trees will grow.

Where nettles grew, myrtles will sprout up.

These events will bring honor to the LORD's name;

they will be an everlasting sign of His power and love."

(Isaiah 55:8-13)

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Speak Lord, Your Servant is Listening

Our grandboy
Gulf Shores, Alabama
2015

"And the LORD came and called as before, 'Samuel! Samuel!" And Samuel replied, 'Speak, Your servant is listening." (1 Sam. 3:10)



I want to take my aunt to the beach this spring. After asking, "Lord, is the beach trip a God idea or a Jill idea," I opened the 40 Days with Jesus devotional by Sarah Young and read, "I AM THE GIFT that continuously gives - bounteously with no strings attached." Four years ago, I'd scribbled "Gulf Shores" above that sentence.😊


God's talking, beloved. Are you listening?

Jesus said, "My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me." (John 10:27-28)

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Are You Ready

My Handsome Groom
September 10, 1977

"When the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep." (Matt. 25:5)

My Phillip and I started dating at sixteen and fifteen and waited six L-O-N-G years to become groom and bride. It seemed our wedding day would never arrive, but the almost forty years since have passed in the twinkling of an eye.

Two thousand years ago in His parable of the ten bridesmaids, Jesus implored believers to stay ready and keep watch for the heavenly Bridegroom's sudden return. "For you do not know the day or the hour," He warned.

Readiness depends on relationship with Jesus. Period. 

Evidence of readiness is reflected in my relationship with others - especially my respect, love, service, and response to my earthly groom. 

"Whoever does not love whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen." (1 John 4:20)

Get ready for Christ's return, beloved, with daily tender loving care for your earthly groom or bride. 

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Happy Birthday, Brother Liam

Babygrand's first birthday

"Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life." (Prov. 13:12)

Yesterday, because Ben, Gabbi, toddlergrand, and babygrand have colds, disappointingly, the family celebration of (as Colt says) brother Liam's birthday was deferred to a later day. Needless to say, our little fellow still enjoyed a one-year-old cupcake, and a few bites actually made it into his mouth. 

Dreams delayed, beloved? Live your todays in joy as you work and wait on tomorrows dreams.

"The strength and happiness of an individual consists of finding the way God is going, and going that way too." ~ Henry Ward Beecher

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Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's Off to Work We Go

Two-year-old grandboy
"Working" his backhoe

"So, my beloved brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless." (1 Cor. 15:58)

Discouraged, beloved? Don't quite. Don't hold back. As The Message says, "Throw yourself into the work of the Master." Visible fruit or no visible fruit, nothing you do for Jesus is a waste of time or effort. Carry on!

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Life Together

L-R my niece Virginia, my dear mother, my Ben, my Rebecca
Reading The Night Before Christmas, 1985

"...together with glad and generous hearts." (Acts 2:46)

I'm having a blast working for the Lord on the new children's book, Ruth and Frankincense, A Good News Christmas Story (hopefully to be released October of this year). By His prompting, yesterday, instructions for the reader's ultimate, fun-filled reading experience were added.

Dear Reader,

For the ultimate, fun-filled reading experience, please follow carefully the detailed recipe below.

Ingredients:

• Family members, old and young, tall and small, the more the merrier (friends may be substituted if family members are unavailable)
• 1 copy of Ruth and Frankincense, A Good News Christmas Story
• 1 cup hot chocolate per participant (marshmallows optional)
• 1 large bowl of buttery popcorn (optional)
• 1 roaring fireplace fire (optional)
• Required attire: warm, snugly pajamas

Instructions:

• Choose the designated reader.
• On December 18th (preferably at bedtime), reader reads Chapter 1 aloud. 
• At the end of Chapter 1, participants discuss Chapter 1 REFLECTIONS: Points to Ponder, Promises of God, and Hidden PEN POINTS.
• Continue reading one chapter each night (Dec. 19th through 24th, Christmas Eve) and discussing REFLECTIONS at the end of corresponding chapters.
• On Christmas Day, Dec. 25th, read final Chapter 8.
• Relish togetherness, dear participants. Time slips away oh so quickly!

Jill

Don't wait till next Christmas, beloved. Live life together. Time slips away oh so quickly!

2

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